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Sixty-five percent of respondents in a recent poll said the government does not do enough in regulating firearms.

Sixty-five percent of Californians favor a law that would ban the sales of assault weapons nationwide, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, comes at a time when local, state and federal lawmakers are contemplating new or strengthened firearm laws after mass shootings, including one at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 first-graders dead in December.

The poll asked if people would “support or oppose a law requiring a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons.” Though 65 percent of respondents support such a law, the backing was higher among Democrats, 79 percent, than Republicans, 45 percent.

The poll also asked how people view the government’s role in regulating firearms. Sixty-five percent of respondents said the government does not do enough.

A majority of people in California also worry about the possibility of a mass shooting in their communities, according to the poll. Sixty-one percent said they are concerned, while 18 percent said they were not worried about such an event.

Regulating firearms

Californians support law to ban assault weapons nationwide

65% support

32% oppose

3% don’t know

Government regulation of guns

65% doesn’t do enough

31% goes too far

4% don’t know

Worried about a mass shooting in community

61% worried

20% slightly worried

18% not worried at all

Source: PPIC

The poll included 4,206 adults living in California, and the margin of error rate is plus or minus 3.5 percent.